What is walk4africa#changelives4ever

WALK4africa

WHAT

walk4africa is a peer-to-peer fundraising event with a two-fold purpose to create awareness and raise funds for East African Ministries’ WASH (Water Access, Sanitation and Health) program in Yumbe, Northern Uganda. The funds raised will allow this program to flourish and remain sustainable in the future while giving God the glory through our work and ministries.

We are excited to partner with individuals, schools, churches and organizations who share our passion for glorifying God while taking care of the basic human needs for clean water and sustainable life. When you partner with us, you commit to creating a team to start utilizing the resources that EAM provides to begin your fundraising efforts.

walk4africa is purely a donation process where individuals can work with friends and families, form teams and compete to see which team raises the most money. Funds are then collected by the team captains, dropped off to the walk coordinator, or turned in the day of the walk at the registration point. We encourage walkers to pre-register for the event, although you will still be able to register the day of the walk as well. Walks are always a multi-generational event, and activities such as face painting are included for smaller children.

The walk route is four miles long (the average distance that people around the world walk to a clean water source). On the day of the event, participants will walk 2 miles to a water source, fill up containers, and return to the starting point. At each mile marker along the route, EAM will set up different points of engagement for ‘experiential learning’. At the conclusion of the walk, EAM will provide an estimated dollar amount collected and reinforce the overall objectives of walk4africa: Glorify God, raise awareness, and support the ministry of East African Ministries.

WHY

The South Sudanese refugees settling into Uganda’s Bidi Bidi settlement camp are struggling to cope with what has become a threadbare life.

Among more than 270,000 refugees fleeing a civil war, 86 percent are women and children, now crammed into 89 square miles that used to be a remote village in the northwestern Uganda district of Yumbe, an empty and arid patch of land. Now they are faced with increasingly dire situations and lack of life-saving assistance.

Just over a year after it opened on Aug. 1, 2016, Bidi Bidi is under enormous pressure and is now the world's largest refugee settlement. The refugees face a desperate lack of life-sustaining food, clean water, basic accommodations, health care, education, shelter, proper sanitation and other basic needs.

WATER FACTS

How does a lack of safe drinking water affect people’s health?

Over 80% of the disease in developing countries is related to poor drinking water and sanitation.

How many children die every day because of drinking unsafe water?

4,500 children die every day from preventable diseases related to a lack of access to clean water, adequate sanitation and hygiene.

How else does carrying water affect people’s health?

Medical research has reported many cases of lasting damage to women’s health in consequence to carrying heavy jugs of water, like chronic fatigue, spinal and pelvic disfigurements, and effects on reproductive health such as spontaneous miscarriages.

How does dirty water affect the economy?

Education is essential for short and long-term economic progress. No country has succeeded in rapid and sustaining economic growth without at least 40% of literate adults. Not having access to clean water and sanitation systems lowers school attendance rates and increases risk of disease and death, meaning GDP also lowers.

How does dirty water affect women and children?

In Africa, more than a quarter of the population spends more than 30 minutes, sometimes up to 6 hours, walking 3.75 miles just to collect enough water for the day. Women and children are mostly responsible for fetching water and caring for the sick (who primarily fall ill due to unclean water). This means that women and children have less time to spend on productive activities, such as going to school or working on a business venture, whereas men and boys can spend their days getting educated and making money.

How does providing clean water solve health issues?

If the world did nothing besides just providing access to clean water, without any other medical involvement, we could save 2 million lives per year.

How does providing clean water solve economic issues?

Every 1 dollar spent on better access to water and sanitation systems generates about 8 more dollars in costs avoided and productivity gained.

How do water and sanitation solutions help women and girls?

When girls are given clean water and private toilet facilities at school, they don’t have to walk for miles to fetch water daily and therefore, school enrollment increases by 15%. This means that girls will reach higher levels of education and the benefits this has will reduce diagnoses of HIV/AIDS, will reduce poverty, improve the health of women and their children, delay unlawfully young marriages, and increase empowerment, confidence, and the ability to choose for oneself.

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."-Mandela

H2OW

Contact our 4africa team today and we will walk step by step with you through the process for setting up and marketing your WALK4africa. We provide the resources and process for a successful walk, you spread the message and together we can CHANGELIVES4ever

WHEN

You choose the date and time for your event-we will be there!

WWW.EAMAFRICA.ORG/EVENTS.HTML

This is why we walk4africa-So they don't have to!

YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE-BE PART OF THE SOLUTION-#CHANGELIVES4ever

CHANGELIVES4EVER

Our goal in 2018 for Walk4africa is to raise $500,000 for the WASH (Water access, Sanitation, and Health) programs of East African Ministries in Northern Uganda.